Politics

The Alaska Legislature did not finish hammering out a plan to fill an estimated 4 billion dollar budget deficit before the scheduled end of its regular session on Sunday. Legislators are remaining in Juneau for at least a week to finish as much as possible before renovations to the capitol building force them to leave.

Taneeka Hansen, Legislative Aide to Republican Representative Paul Seaton of Homer says legislators are working on several bills, but no major decisions have been made.

A Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Member, Stan Welles, infuriated borough residents after he wrote a letter to a local newspaper arguing the irrelevance of marijuana revenue in the face of its social costs. Residents turned out at Tuesday’s Assembly meeting to tell Welles their thoughts on the letter’s closing, which they say, compares people involved in the marijuana industry to Islamic State terrorists.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly ran out of time during its Tuesday night meeting and had to postpone the vote to introduce a controversial ordinance. Ordinance 2016-10 would give Kenai Peninsula Borough residents the option to not allow licensed marijuana businesses in the borough.

Homer Assembly Member Kelly Cooper says she normally votes to at least introduce every ordinance so it can be heard. But, she won’t give this ordinance the same courtesy.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough is considering teaming up with a Homer area composter to turn organic waste, usually transported to the borough's landfill, into fertilizer.

“The Borough Administration is very interested in setting up a pilot project collecting food waste from local restaurants [and] perhaps facilities like the hospital. We’re still working on the details, but basically collecting food waste and composting them instead of putting them into the borough landfill,” said South Peninsula Borough Assembly Member Willy Dunne.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly is wading through another set of issues this year. Cannabis regulation, Healthcare reform, Local Option Zoning and the budget are just a few of the issues assembly members are tackling. This week on the Coffee Table we talked with your South Peninsula Borough Assembly members: Kelly Cooper and Willy Dunne.

Alaska Republicans chose Ted Cruz as their candidate during the party’s Presidential Preference poll Tuesday evening. The Texas Senator was just slightly ahead of Donald Trump with a 36.4 percent. Trump took 33.5 percent of the vote. None of the other candidates were even close.

District 31’s Republicans, in the Southwest Kenai Peninsula Borough, followed the statewide trend. A 38 percent majority voted for Cruz. Trump got 36 percent of the vote.

There were five candidates on the ballot: Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, John Kasich and Ben Carson.

Representative Paul Seaton, a Republican of Homer, is sponsoring another bill that would create a state income tax but this time with a twist. Seaton is proposing an income tax and a long-term capital gains tax for both residents and non-residents. But, he also wants to turn the Permanent Fund Dividend into a tax credit.

“So it raises about $355 million from both a reduction in Permanent Fund Dividends and it raises about $655 million from the income tax portion,” said Seaton.

The Homer City Council is considering an ordinance that will end its contract with a company hired to invest money saved in the city’s Permanent Fund.

The Permanent Fund was created in 2006 to hold settlement money awarded for the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. In 2010 the city was awarded $1.1 million for the spill. According to Homer Finance Director John Li the fund is now worth close to $2 million.

Homer Mayor Beth Wythe says that money must be used in a very specific way.